Senegal bans female excision practice

Senegal has banned the excision practice which is henceforth considered as an offence that will be punished by a sentence of 1 to 5 years in prison, it was officially announced here on Tuesday.

The excision, which consists in the total or partial removal of women's external genitals affects some 130 million women in Africa, including 700,000 in Senegal, according to UNICEF.

The decision to ban excision was made on Tuesday at the ministers' council and comes to strengthen other measures meant to struggle against the plague.

Several campaigns were staged in Senegal to foster public awareness to the danger of the practice.